(2) Regeneration by artificial seeding.—Occasion ally it may be desirable to sow seed in woodlands. This is often the case with ash, hard maple and birch, and with our nut-bearing trees, such as black walnut, butternut, the hickories, chestnut and oaks, which readily renew themselves by such means. These may be planted in spots or broadcasted after the land has been loosened. In the case of pine and spruce, however, success is uncertain under such treatment, and should seldom be attempted. Per haps it is most certain to furrow out between the trees with a plow, where it is practicable, as it might be, for example, on some of the sandy lands of Wisconsin and Michigan, where furrows might be run between the trees or the land loosened in patches with a hoe. In these furrows, or in patches in the forest, the seed of pine or spruce might often find just the right conditions for growth. Such methods of treatment are occasionally used in the pine forests of northern Germany, to secure a regeneration of Scotch pine and beech. When the seed is to be sown in patches, these should seldom be over two square yards in area. From these patches the seedlings may be set in near-by openings, after they are well established. This treatment can be made successful only where the standing trees afford the proper shade conditions for the seedlings.
Under some conditions, tree seeds may be sown broadcast on the land and be covered by the treading of sheep. This would often work well in the case of brushy pastures on rocky land. Ash, box-elder, maple, pine, beech and other tree seeds are sometimes sown in clear fields with oats or other grains, where the straw protects from the sun in summer and the stubble holds the snow and acts as a winter protection. Seeds of ash, maple, elm, and some other trees may sometimes be sown to advantage in the hills with corn in prairie planting, and wil low cuttings may be used in the same way, or these may be planted in the hills with beans.
(3) Regeneration by planting seedlings.--The re generation of land by planting seedlings is prac ticed to considerable extent in sections where timber is high in price. For instance, in parts of Hessen it is no uncommon sight to see large areas of land planted in spruce at as regular intervals as corn is planted on cultivated land ; when the crop is mature it is taken out by the roots and the land plowed and again planted. In the parts of Hessen referred to, however, there is a good market for even the stumps of trees and the smaller twigs. Such a condition is seldom found in any part of the United States.
There is a large part of this country where the land cannot be stocked with valuable trees without resorting to replanting. This is often the most economical way of securing a stock of conif erous trees in almost any part of the United States under the conditions which frequently pre vail on our cut-over lands, where there is very little chance for natural or artificial regenera tion of desirable kinds by seed, owing to the fact that all seed-producing trees were cut when the land was logged or have since been destroyed by fire, and the ground covered by a growth of grass, raspberry bushes, other weeds and inferior small trees. Seedling pines often can be set out at
intervals of perhaps ten feet apart each way, under conditions where they would be sufficiently crowded by the weeds, poplars, hazel-brush and other growths, so that they would take on an upright form, quite free from branches until their tops interlaced, after which they would properly crowd one another. such planting often can be dune at an expense of less than two dollars per acre. In planting seedlings under such conditions, the best implement to use is a mattock, with which a space a foot or more in diameter is cleared of brush and the soil brought into condition for the seedlings. Under very favorable conditions the work can be done for even a less figure than that given. It is not too much to expect that a man and a boy, in a day of ten hours, under reason ably favorable conditions, can plant at least 1,000 seedlings and handle them with all the care nec essary to keep the roots from getting dry. Pine and spruce seedlings are best kept in a pail partially filled with water when carried to the field.
After the seedlings are planted, it is neces sary for success that they be looked after for a few years until they are well established, other wise they may be smothered by the surrounding weeds and trees. It is a good plan, under such con ditions, to go over the land at least once in the summer with a large knife, and with a few slashes give the planted seedlings an advantage over the surrounding vegetation.
In the planting out of old fields, where for any reason it may be undesirable to plow the land entirely, a good condition for planting may be secured by furrowing out in autumn where it is desired to plant, and in the spring planting on the edge of the furrow where the soil has fallen from the furrow-slice. In the case of hillsides of this kind that are liable to wash, the furrows should ran across the slope and be made nearly level, or with a gentle slope so that the water will follow the furrows without gullying them. These furrows will hold the water and prevent the seedlings drying out. On wet land seedlings are sometimes planted on the surface, and the soil mounded up over the roots. This method is well adapted to white cedar on wet land.